Moor Mother

Camae Ayewa,[5] (born November 19, 1979) better known by her stage name Moor Mother, is an American poet, musician, and activist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[6] She is one half of the collective Black Quantum Futurism, along with Rasheedah Phillips,[7] and co-leads the groups Irreversible Entanglements and 700 Bliss.[8][9]

Moor Mother
Ayewa performing in 2017
Background information
Birth nameCamae Ayewa
Also known as
  • Moor Mother Goddess[1]
  • Camae Defstar[2]
Born (1979-11-19) November 19, 1979
Aberdeen, Maryland, U.S.
OriginPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
GenresExperimental[3]
Occupation(s)
  • Poet
  • musician
  • activist
Years active2012–present[4]
Labels
Websitemoormother.bandcamp.com

Early life and career

Ayewa was born in Aberdeen, Maryland, where she grew up in a public housing project.[10][11] She moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to study photography at the Art Institute.[12]

In 2016, Moor Mother released a studio album, Fetish Bones, on Don Giovanni Records.[13] The album, which was released alongside a 122-page book of poetry,[12] was included on year-end lists by Pitchfork,[14] Rolling Stone,[15] and The Wire.[16]

In 2017, she released a studio album, The Motionless Present, on The Vinyl Factory.[17] It featured collaborations with Geng, DJ Haram, Mental Jewelry, and Rasheedah Phillips.[18] The same year, she released a collaborative EP with Mental Jewelry, titled Crime Waves, on Don Giovanni Records.[19][20]

She served as one of the guest curators at the 2018 Le Guess Who? music festival.[21][22] In 2019, she released Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes.[23]

Ayewa co-leads and provides lyrics and vocals for the "liberation-oriented free-jazz collective" Irreversible Entanglements.[24] She met the quintet's members through musical and activist endeavors: bassist Luke Stewart shared bills with her band the Mighty Paradocs; saxophonist Keir Neuringer worked with Books Through Bars, whose events Ayewa has emceed; and the trio of Ayewa, Stewart, and Neuringer was followed by the duo of trumpeter Aquiles Navarro and drummer Tcheser Holmes at a 2015 Musicians Against Brutality event following the shooting of Akai Gurley.[8] The group performed in the inaugural season of the Kennedy Center's "Direct Current" contemporary culture showcase,[25] and their releases have been included in best-of lists in Magnet,[26] NPR Music,[27] The Quietus,[28] and Stereogum's "20 Best Jazz Albums Of The 2010s".[29] The band's instrumentalists also performed on Ayewa's debut theatrical work, Circuit City.[30]

In the fall of 2021, Ayewa began serving as an assistant professor at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.[31]

Discography

Studio albums

With Irreversible Entanglements
Ayewa performing with Irreversible Entanglements

With 700 Bliss

Compilation albums
  • Manufacture of Indigo (2015)[45]
  • Clepsydra (2020)[46]
  • Anthologia 01 (2020) (with Olof Melander)[47]

Live albums
  • Offering: Live at Le Guess Who (2020) (with Nicole Mitchell)[48]

EPs
  • Crime Waves (2017) (with Mental Jewelry)[49]

Guest appearances
  • Fhloston Paradigm - "...All" from After... (2017)[50]
  • Show Me the Body - "In a Grave" and "Everything Hate Here" from Corpus I (2017)[51]
  • Lushlife - "I've Seen It Before I Was There" from My Idols Are Dead + My Enemies Are in Power (2017)[52]
  • Eartheater - "MMXXX" from IRISIRI (2018)[53]
  • Reef the Lost Cauze - "Splinters" from The Majestic (2018)[54]
  • Screaming Females - "End of My Bloodline (Remix)" from Singles Too (2019)[55]
  • Art Ensemble of Chicago, We Are On the Edge (Pi, 2019)
  • Zonal - "Body of Wire", "In a Cage", "System Error", "Medulla", "Catalyst", and "No Investigation" from Wrecked (2019)[56]
  • Harrga - "À Vif" from Héroïques Animaux de la Misère (2019)[57]
  • Armand Hammer - "Ramses II" from Shrines (2020)[58]
  • Sons of Kemet - "Pick Up Your Burning Cross (feat. Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid)" from Black To The Future (2021)[59]
  • The Bug - "Vexed (feat. Moor Mother)" from Fire (2021)[60]
  • madam data - "In the emptiness beyond emptinesses..." from The Gospel of the Devourer (PTP, 2021)
  • Art Ensemble of Chicago, The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris (RogueArt, 2023)[61]
  • Celestaphone - "Tithes" from Paper Cut From the Obit (2023)[62]

Remixes

References
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  2. Fintoni, Laurent (December 18, 2015). "Meet Camae Defstar, The Philly Activist Channelling Her City's Pain Through Music". The Fader. Archived from the original on February 23, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  3. Blais-Billie, Braudie (October 19, 2017). "Moor Mother Shares Three-Hour Piece: Listen". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  4. Willems, Jasper (January 17, 2017). "Distorting The Present: DiS Meets Moor Mother". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on January 19, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  5. Dandridge-Lemco, Ben (March 1, 2018). "Take a trip to Moor Mother's Philadelphia in this new mini-doc". The Fader. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  6. Ravens, Chal (January 11, 2018). "Moor Mother review – howl of apocalyptic fury is kept to a whisper". The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  7. Duplan, Anaïs (March 14, 2017). "Moor Mother Explains Black Quantum Futurism". Vice. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  8. Camp, Zoe (April 2, 2020). "The Revolutionary Free Jazz of Irreversible Entanglements". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  9. "700 Bliss discuss their debut album Nothing To Declare | The Skinny". www.theskinny.co.uk. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  10. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (April 20, 2017). "Moor Mother: 'We have yet to truly understand what enslavement means'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  11. Rachel, T. Cole (December 19, 2017). "Performance artist Moor Mother isn't afraid of confrontation". Interview. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  12. Pelly, Jenn (October 26, 2016). "Moor Mother: Hardcore Poet". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  13. Iadarola, Alexander (September 6, 2016). "Moor Mother's New Track Is a Reminder of the Agitating Power of Noise". Vice. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
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  21. Welsh, April Clare (May 24, 2018). "Moor Mother, Asia Argento set to curate Le Guess Who? 2018". Fact. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
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